


When Raising Grubs Is Harder Than You Thought.

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Grubs, Grubs get into trouble, Multi, Post Game, after the game, and cry alot, and tells people how to raise grubs, eridan suprisingly has alot of knowledge about grubs, everyone raises two grubs, except terezi, kanaya gives grubs out, karkat has no idea what hes doing, vriska and gamzee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-08-30 03:38:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8517073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The first batch of eggs have been hatched via the mothergrub, and when there are no lusi around, Kanaya asks all of her friends to take care of a few grubs. and Karkat realizes that its harder than he thought to believe.





	1. Come on Everyone, Its Time to get your Grubs!

Its been three months since the game ended. three months since they won that bullshit game. three months since everyone came back. About a two months ago, Kanaya finally brought back the mother grub. Repopulation could begin now. Kanaya worked tirelessly, caring for the mother grub and making sure that she didn’t get sick  and die. A month ago she reported to the group that the thirty six eggs had been born and that she was setting up pseudo trials for them when they were to eventually hatch. She had been thinking about how they would be raised once they passed the trials. Seeing as they had no lusi to choose the grubs, they certainly couldn’t be left on their own and being raised by solely Kanaya wasn’t an option either.

While caring for the eggs meticulously she had gotten an idea, they could be raised by the group. And she would raise the grubs that wouldn’t be raised by another troll, basically meaning Terezi, vriska, and gamzee. She really didn’t trust any of them with grubs. She would have to bring this idea up to the others though. She didn’t know if any of them would even accept this duty, surely not all of them would say yes to this. None of them know how to raise grubs, she didn’t as well but she did at least study it when she lived on Alternia.

 

- [grimAuxiliatrix]  has started a groupchat with 8 others-

[GA]: So An Idea For The Upcoming Grubs

[GA]: Would You All Mind Raising Two To Three Grubs?

[GA]: Seeing As We Don’t Have Any Lusi

[CG]: I MEAN, I DON’T THINK IT WOULD BE THAT HARD

[CG]: IM COOL WITH IT.

[CC]: It would be fun! Little guppies are adorable!

[CC]: I will DE—FINATELY help!

[TA]: ii gue22 iif FF iis gonna help iill help 2

[CC]: Tanks Sollux~!

[AT]: iTS UH, COOL WITH ME TOO

[AT]: aCTUAL GRUBS CANT BE THAT DIFFERENT FROM RAISING GAMEGRUBS RIGHT?

[AC]: :33 Id be happy to raise grubbies!!

[AC]: :33 Equius and I can do it together!

[CT]: D --> Well

[CT]: D --> If Nepeta insists, I will help as well

[CA]: Do you really trust me with grubs kan?

[GA]: I Don’t See Why Not

[GA]: Youre Better Than Vriska

[GA]: And Terezi

[GA]: And Gamzee

[CA]: okay then

[CG]: WHY DON’T YOU TRUST TEREZI

[GA]: Seeing As She’s Been Gone Most Of The Time We’ve Been In The New World

[GA]: She’s Off Doing Too Many Things To Stay And Care For A Grub

[AT]: wHAT ABOUT gAMZEE?

[GA]: …….

[CG]: …….

[CA]: ……..

[CT]: D --> ………

[AC]: :##

[AT]: wHAT?

[AT]: yOU HAVE TO ADMIT THAT OUT OF ALL OF US

[AT]: tHAT UH,,, hES THE ONLY ONE WHOS RAISED A WRIGGLER

[AT]: eVEN IF THAT WRIGGLER HAPPENED TO BE A CHERUB

[AT]: aND TRIED TO MURDER US ALL

[GA]: Tavros, He’s Been Sober For A Long While

[GA]: Would You Really Trust Him With A Small Grub

[AT]: pARTIALLY

[GA]: Well I Don’t, And Ultimately Its My Decision

[GA]: Anyway

[GA]: I Need All Of You To Meet Me At My Hive In Relatively A Month

[GA]: Ill Send Out An Exact Date Later

[CG]: OKAY

[CC]: Okidoki!

[TA]: mkay

[AC]: :33 ok!

[CT]: D --> Alright

[CA]: Okay..

[AT]: oK

-[adiosToreador] has left the chat-

-[centaursTesticle] has left the chat-

-[arsenicCatnip] has left the chat-

-[carcinoGeneticist] has left the chat-

-[cuttlefishCuller] has left the chat-

-[caligulasAquarium] has left the chat-

-[twinArmageddons] has left the chat-

[AA]: 00ps

[AA]: s0rry f0r n0t replying until n0w

[AA]: ive been expl0ring

[AA]: But ill help aswell

[AA]: I can take a break from my expl0rati0n

[GA]: Alright, Thank You Aradia

[AA]: Y0ure welc0me Kanaya

-[apocalypseArisen] has left the chat-

-[grimAuxiliatrix] has left the chat-

Two weeks later the trials had begun, the trials themselves took about two weeks to be completed. So no one except rose had seen or heard from Kanaya in that time. Rose was the only way that any of them knew that she was still alive at all. The others had heard from Rose that after the first week nearly six grubs had failed, only thirty left. It had apparently taken a toll on the Jade because she had apparently debated stopping the trials, not wanting any more grubs to be taken. But she knew that even if these pseudo trials were easier than the Alternian trials. It was still pretty bad. In the middle of the second week, Rose told the group that she would be gone for a day or two, to watch the grub trials in Kanaya’s stead as she worked on another thing. She was apparently making booklets for everyone.

At the end of it all, twenty-four grubs had survived. Which worked out pretty well, because then two grubs each could be given to each of the trolls, with Kanaya herself taking care of the rest. She alchemized eight baskets, and blankets. Setting the grubs into pairs, she decided that it would be a good idea to place the both grubs with a troll that appeared to be its parent. The grubs were very cute, well… most of them were. Some were just like their parents, and very unpleasant. She hoped that the grubs would be alright being in the same basket together but they had been sleeping in piles anyway, so it wouldn’t be that much of a problem she thought. She sent a message out to the people who had agreed to look after grubs, telling them to meet her in the front of the brooding caverns within the next couple days to receive the grubs.

The first to arrive were Feferi and Sollux. When they arrived, they were promptly handed each a booklet, which gave specific instructions on how to care for a grub. Kanaya walked to the caverns and where she had laid out the baskets full of grubs. She picked up the two labeled ‘Sollux’ and ‘Feferi’ respectively and walked back out, handing them the baskets carefully, little chirps coming from the grubs inside.

“If you two have any questions, please feel free to ask. Okay?” Kanaya smiled as she watched Feferi pull out one of the grubs, inspecting it quickly.

“Don’t worry KN” Sollux sighed, rubbing the grubs head that had decided to poke its head out.

“Its so CUTE” Feferi squealed, spinning around gleefully, making the small grub in her hands squeak, unbeknownst if it was in fear or excitement. Kanaya sucked in a breath and took a step forward.

“Uh Feferi dear, please don’t do that-“

The Heiress stopped and looked at her, cocking her head to the side. “Why?”

“If you continue, the grub will get sick all over you”

“oh!” Feferi put a hand over her mouth in surprise and quickly set the grub back into the basket.

“Please read the booklet I made for you, it will give you all the information you need on raising a grub, alright?”

“We will Kanaya!” Feferi giggled, hooking her free arm through Sollux’s. Kanaya sighed as she watched the two go, speaking quietly about their new grubs. Now all she had to do was wait for the next troll to arrive. Rose came out a bit later with a small tray in her hands, holding two teacups and a few cookies.

“Anyone come yet dear?” Rose asked quietly, smiling softly as she set the tray down on a nearby table.

“Feferi and Sollux left about ten minutes ago” Kanaya hummed, walking over to the girl and wrapping her arms around the other's waist from behind.

“who do you think will arrive next” Rose pondered, flipping the cups over and pouring tea into them.

“I don’t know to be honest.” She sighed, resting her chin on the others shoulder. “Possibly Tavros or Aradia, or Nepeta and Equius together. Eridan will be the last to get here because his hive is farthest away, aside from Karkat who probably would arrive closer to the end of the day, I believe he is observing the how the carapaces are doing and building stuff today?”

“He is. He is doing that with Dave”

“alright then”

The two girls sat down at the small table and picked up the tea that had been brought out. Kanaya sipped slowly, watching the entrance to the grove to see if anyone arrived. Rose looked over at her wife and sighed, handing her a cookie to eat.

“Everyone got your message correct?”

“I hope so?” Kanaya hummed and pulled her phone out quickly, scrolling through each of the messages she had sent to the other trolls, finding all but two of them read. Those two being Nepeta and Equius. She sighed and set her phone on the table, taking another sip of her tea. She blinked slowly and looked over at her wife, smiling lightly, taking the cookie and nibbling on it slowly.

“thank you for coming out and joining me dear” Kanaya smiled, reaching over and placing her hand atop the others.

“Its no problem” Rose chuckled, turning her hand to link her fingers with the other. Kanayas phone suddenly beeped and she picked it up, checking the message. It was Tavros saying that he was on his way over.

“Tavros is on his way” she sighed happily, looking over at Rose.

“That’s great”

And about twenty minutes later, Tavros walked into the clearing. Looking around and seeing the two women, he sighed and walked over. His shoulders slumped and movements small.

“Hey Kanaya…”  

“Hello Tavros” she smiled, standing up slowly and walking up a bit to meet him. “Ready to pick up the grubs?” she hummed happily.

“Uh yeah, I was also gonna ask… can I take care of Gamzee’s grubs too?” he pressed his fingers together and glanced away, unsure of the answer that would be given.

“You sure? I don’t want you to get overwhelmed with grubs”

“It'll be okay, i've raised a lot of gamegrubs before back on Alternia”

“well, if it gets too much for you I can always take them back”

“It'll be okay Kanaya, I swear”

She crossed her arms and sighed. “Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you”. She turned around and sighed quietly, walking over to the cavern entrance where the rest of the grubs laid. She was followed closely by tavros, who kept looking around quietly. She picked up the basket and placed the basket atop of it. She turned back around and handed him the grub filled basket.

“Give me a minute to go get the other two, I didn’t expect to give them to someone to their off sleeping with my grubs”

“okay” he said quickly, and peered into the basket, lifting the blanket covering the two sleeping grubs. His face softened and he slowly knelt to the ground, lifting one out and holding it in his hand.

“Hello there~” he giggled, rubbing his thumb over the grooves in its back. It chirred quietly and blinked up at him. It yawned and uncurled, rolling into onto its back. Tavros giggled and rubbed its belly, a happy chirp coming from the grub. Kanaya came back with the two higher blood grubs in her hands.

“Hey Kanaya?” Tavros asked, looking up quickly.

“Yes?” she hummed, walking over and placing the two other grubs in the basket though they didn’t stay there long as they tried to climb over everything, including the other grub.

“Do they have names or do I have to name them?”

“I didn’t name the grubs I was handing out to the others, but gamzee’s two grubs are named Adonis and Blanch”

“okay” he smiled “I’ll name the other two when I get home”

“Alright” she chuckled and stood, holding her hand out to help pull him up. Taking her hand, Tavros stood and hooked his arm through the basket. He brushed himself off and mumbled a quick ‘thanks’ before tucking all four grubs underneath the blanket and smiling awkwardly up at her.

“well, i’m gonna go back to my hive, okay?”

“okay, make sure to read the booklet though” she smiled, watching him softly.

“I will,” he sighed “Bye Kanaya, bye Rose” he waved and turned, leaving the grove quickly.

The two women waved and watched him go. Kanaya sighed and rubbed her temple slowly and was about to join Rose back at the table when Nepeta skipped into the opening followed by Equius, who looked relatively skittish to be here.

“Hi Kanayaaa!!” Nepeta squealed, skipping over quickly to hug the jade tightly.

“oof- ah, hello Nepeta” she chuckled, hugging her for a second before pulling away. Nepeta pulled away and bounced a bit, looking at Kanaya. Equius caught up with the over excited troll and sighed.

“Hello Mrs. Maryam” he sighed quietly, placing a hand on his moirails shoulder.

“Hello Equius” she smiled and stepped away. “Are you two absolutely sure that you want grubs?”

“Yes!” The olive girl giggled “It’ll be better than meowbeast babies!”

“you have to realize that grubs are not like meowbeast kits” Kanaya started, crossing her arms worriedly and wondering if Nepeta was even mature enough to even take care of grubs. She was having severed doubts about handing over grubs to her when Equius interjected.

“You’re going to be caring for a young troll Nepeta, remember this” He said lowly, his hand squeezing her shoulder lightly. The look on Nepeta’s face went from excited to a more serious one.

“oh right, oopsie” she gave an awkward smile and rubbed the back of her head a bit. “I kinda got a bit too excited”

“you could say that” Kanaya chuckled. She shook her head lightly and sighed “Come on, let’s go get your grubs”

Nepeta nodded quickly and followed behind the jade quickly. Still looking very much childish with her small stature. Kanaya repeated the same process she had done with tavros, except for getting the other grubs. She watched on as Nepeta scrambled up equius’s back and sat on his shoulders, while Equius himself picked the grub baskets and walked out of the clearing. It was really a sight to see, he was very strong to say the least.

The next person to come was Aradia and relatively the same thing happened with her, she came over and picked her grubs and the booklet and left. Not that big on conversation as usual. Kanaya watched as she flew away with her basket of grubs and sighed when she was out of sight.

“The other grubs must be hungry…” she mumbled to herself, walking into her hive and pulled out the container of half frozen chunks of raw meat from the freezer. Rose walked in with the tea tray as Kanaya was taking the container out.

“Grub feeding time?” she asked, setting the tray down on the counter and leaning against it.

“Yes, do you want to grab the other container and help me?” she hummed, lifting up the second container and smiling lightly.

“Of course, they are our grubs dear” she giggled and took the container from her wife’s hand. Standing up on her tiptoes to give her a small peck on the lips before turning and walking out to the caverns, followed closely by Kanaya.

“Ill get our grubs and you get the others?” Rose hummed, glancing back at the other.

“Sure, okay” she smiled and headed over to side of the cavern opening where Karkat and Eridans grubs still lay. She knelt down and fished each of them out of the basket, holding a chunk of meat in front of the first grubs mouth, coaxing it to eat it. She chuckled as the one purple ravenously tore up the meat.

“Hungry were you?” she commented and stroked the small grubs head as it curled up onto its back and chewed on the meat. Its red sibling sniffed the meat and growled a bit, biting the chunk and shaking its head vigorously. She looked at the other two grubs, who were actually eating the meat like normal grubs. She looked over all of them, noting that the small burgundy’s body rounded out at the end, making it a female. The little girls sibling, a teal blood grub’s body also rounded out. A pair of girls it seemed, looked like Karkat would have a set of girls to raise. A handful they would later be. 

She glanced at Eridan’s grub, or rather, the two little growl beasts pretending to be grubs. She chuckled at the thought and looked at the red blood, it had a smaller tailfin that was more rigid, for faster swimming she assumed and from what her textbooks said, that was a male. He had a bright red streak of hair as well. That breeders forelock that was now useless and he had inherited from Eridan. The final grub, which happened to be a purple blood, had tips of purple in its hair. Kanaya had no idea where that came from, none of her text books said anything about it, maybe it was the opposite of a breeders forelock? Who knows. Looking down, she noticed that it had a wavy tail, but it was too small to be usable at all. It looked like a girl and the evidence of its tail being different than its sibling confirmed that fact. She deemed the grub a girl and sighed. She waited for the grubs to have their fill of the meat she had cut out for them, before sliding them back into the basket to wait for their new lusi to arrive.

“Kan?” a familiar voice broke through her train of thought, making her look up at the new arrival. It was Eridan, much to her surprise. She had thought he would arrive last but that was no matter.

“Hello Eridan” she sighed, standing up and brushing off her skirt. She looked over to the violet prince and glared a bit, she couldn’t help but remember when he tried to kill her. She knew he had changed but that grudge stayed a bit strong, seeing as she still had a scar in her stomach from it.

“I know you don’t want to see me that much so i’ll just take the grubs and leave” he offered, pushing his glasses up as he glanced at the jade warily.

“I actually wanted to talk to you” she hummed, picking up the basket with the rowdy grubs. “but if you wish to leave I can just message you on pesterchum later” she held up the basket for him to take, holding up the booklet in her other hand.

“Uhm… if you don’t mind I would rather do that…” he said quietly, taking the basket from her and pushing the booklet into his pocket. He looked down into the basket to look at the two dozing grubs.

“The red blood is a boy and the purple is a girl” Kanaya stated, her voice almost emotionless.

“oh thanks” he mumbled, clutching the basket close to him. He glanced away and started to back up.

“Go” she sighed, crossing her arms a bit and waving her hand with an annoyed glare.

“thanks again” he said quickly and turned, leaving just as quickly as he came in. Kanaya watched as he left, actually noticing that he wasn’t wearing that flamboyant cape. His stature was much different than it was when they were younger. He finally got knocked off of it high horse, she almost wondered who made that happen. Almost. She rolled her eyes as he got out of site.

“What a wimp” she mumbled as Rose walked up next to her. “he could atleast have a decent conversation with me before running off”

“you did cut him in half dear” Rose chuckled

“I know-“

“with a chainsaw might I add”

“oh hush” she sighed and took the others hand in her own. Squeezing it softly.

“I'm just saying, I can understand his fear of you” Rose chuckled and kissed Kanaya’s cheek.

The Jade shook her head and sighed. “Oh well, whatever” she shrugged and let her face soften.

All she had to do now was wait for Karkat, who, by her time should be getting here at any moment.  And of course, she was correct, it would almost make someone think she was a time player. But no, she just knew how Karkat and Dave’s relationship worked. They were probably out still exploring as of now, but Dave would use his time powers afterwards to get Karkat here on time. She heard the familiar sound of a time player taking their entrance and turned around. Seeing both Dave and Karkat standing at the front of her hive.

“Hello boys” she chuckled, making Dave jump a bit and spin around. Karkat just turned around and rubbed his head, mumbling something about still not being used to the time jumps.

“Thank you for getting him here  _ on time _ Dave” Kanaya smiled and walked forward a bit.

“No prob Bob” he shot finger guns at her and almost flash stepped away but his cape was grabbed by rose before he could do so. The girl dragging him off inside the hive to have a proper talk as ecto siblings, which they hadn’t had in awhile.

Kanaya directed her attention toward Karkat, who was still rubbing his temple, and smiled.

“Hello Karkat,” she smiled “Ready to become a Lusus?” a small chuckle escaped her as the male looked up, a bit confused before he actually remembered why he was here.

“Oh shit- Yeah” he sighed, “Sorry, time jumping screws with my head sometimes and after exploring a lot of shit, i'm just tired” he rubbed the back of his head and slumped a bit.

“Well, you have two grubs to look after now.” She started, cocking her hip a bit and resting her hand on it. “Unless you would like to back out now”

“No. No, I said I would do this and I will, okay” he glared a bit “I am a troll of my fucking word and I won't be some bulge much to suddenly back out of a thing I promised id do”

Kanaya held a hand over mouth as a giggle snort slipped out of her nose. “Well then, come meet your little girls”. She put her hands down and waved a hand in a motion to follow her. The final grubs were where she had left them, lying curled up in the basket around each other. She picked it up and turned back to the red blood, holding out the basket for a final time.

“A burgundy and a teal, both little girls” she smiled, letting the basket be taken by the stocky troll, who glanced inside and well, couldn’t take his eyes off the grubs. Kanaya looked on with a soft smile on her lips, many believed that she and Karkat were moirails, or close thereof, it's possible they could be, but neither thought about putting their relationship into a quadrant. Just as Dave and Karkat believed, those two didn’t want to be matesprits, but they were more than moirails. It was just a human thing they had adapted she thought. She shook her head and got her train of thought back on track.

She picked up the last booklet and held it out. “Here, it has everything you’ll need for caring for grubs” she smiled. Karkat looked up quickly from sleeping grubs and took the booklet, dropping it in the basket next to the grubs

“Thanks Kanaya” he said, smiling at her awkwardly.

“You can message me if you need anything or have any questions with the grubs, alright?”

He nodded quickly and slipped his arm through the basket, resting it in his arm.

“….I guess i'll be going back to my hive now” he sighed, glancing around awkwardly.

“Alright, bye I guess” she hummed quietly, staring at him and smiling. She waved as Karkat turned toward the exit of the grove, heading toward it.

“Oh-! Karkat!” She called, the male suddenly stopping in his tracks and turning around.

“Yeah?”

“Take care of yourself, don’t fret too much over the grubs.” She smiled, it was easy to slip into a phase where a lusus would forget to take care of itself in favor of taking care of the its grub. She didn’t want that to happen to her friend.

“don’t worry, I will” he called back, waving to her as he soon became out of sight.

Kanaya sighed and frowned a bit, being left alone to her thoughts. She worried a bit for the grubs she had given out. how would the others fare with the grubs? Would they care for them properly? What if one of the grubs got injured-. No, this wasn’t a good train of thought to be on. All she could do was wait it out, if the others needed help, she would give it. She would just have to trust them, no matter how much it worried her.


	2. When Karkat Realizes He Has No Idea What He’s Doing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat really has no idea what he's doing but he tries his best.

Karkat walked home with grubs in hand, Dave wasn’t with him since he got dragged away with Rose. He kept looking through the small booklet that kanaya had given him, it didn't seem that hard. They just needed basic care otherwise they’ll just care for themselves. He shrugged and unlocked the door to his hive, walking inside and shutting the door behind him with his foot. 

“To the nobody that’s here, I'm home!” He called, he had been coming back to an empty hive ever since he had even built his hive. 

“Oh fuck whatever..” He mumbled and walked into his somewhat spacious living room and set the basket down. He quickly got up and turned on the light, it would probably be a good idea to have the light on as he played around with the grubs for a bit and read deeper into kanaya’s booklet. He plopped down in front of the basket and pulled the grubs out, setting them down on the floor next to it.

“Kanaya said they were both girls, hm…” he sighed and looked them over, burgundy and teal blood. The little teal girl looked up at him and squeaked, waving her tiny claws in his direction, the burgundy chewed on the side of the blanket, making tiny growling noises. Karkat chuckled and moved the blanket out of the girls mouth, who then immediately began gnawing on his shoe.

“Okay okay, stop that. That’s my shoe” he plucked her off and placed her down in the basket, as sort of a temporary time out. She started to wail, making karkat flinch but he ignored it, it wasn’t bad to cry for a couple minutes.

“I can’t just keep calling you two grubs and girls…” he hummed “Names it is then!” he picked up the teal grub and stared at her for a good few seconds, looking her over. She had nubby little horns, similar to his, but at the ends they jutted out, similar to Equius’s. Karkat shuddered at the thought of him and Equius together, he shook his head quickly and stared at the grub.

“Limuli, thats it, thats your name” he smiled and the newly dubbed Limuli in his hands squeaked happily, butting his hand. She was really too adorable for words. He set her down on his knee and fished out the wailing burgundy, who quieted down when she came out. Karkat looked her over slowly. She had short hair a lot like his own, an unruly mess. It was also white, which was probably inherited from her other genetic donator. Who karkat could only guess was Dave, seeing the such low blood color.

“I guess you’ll be Anshu” he hummed quietly, “seeing as the first thing you went for was my shoe” he held her up above him and stared at her. Just thinking. Anshu eventually started chirping at Karkat and wriggling in his hold. Her face scrunched up and chirped loudly, knocking karkat out of his train of thought. He sat up and set her down, but the chirping continued.

“What do you want?” he asked quietly, trying to figure out what she wanted. Confounded, Karkat picked up the grub booklet and tried to figure out what her chirps meant. 

“Chirps… chirps… what the fuck does they mean” he grumbled, and turns out there was basically only two paragraphs on grub noises. Which was basically stating the obvious about their noises

“Goddamnit Kanaya” he huffed and shut the book. Staring down at the little chirping grub. The more he listened to her, the more it sounded like she was just chirping to make noise. He sighed and papped her face.

“Shush” 

Another squeak

“I said shoosh”

A louder squeak

“Shoooosh”

Squeaaak!!

Karkat pushed back a bit and got on her level

“What do you wannnttt” 

A quieter squeak

Anshu crawled forward and butted Karkats chin, squeaking quietly. He sighed and stared at her as she climbed up his side and curled up on his back.

“Is that seriously what you wanted?” he huffed, craning his head back to stare at the grub. He shook his head and looked over at his other grub, who was crawling slowly toward him, curling up in the crook of his arm. He scrunched up his face and reached behind him with his free hand and moved the burgundy grub next to the teal one.

“You two are such a handful, jegus christ” he sat up slowly and placed them in the corner of the couch, corralling them with pillows. He stared at them for a couple more seconds before sitting down next to them and opening the booklet. Trying to learn more about grubs so he wasnt absolutely helpless. Or so he tried. If he didnt fall asleep. Which he did.

Karkat woke up a few hours later to a scratching at his face along with a tiny squeaking. He groaned and blinked open his eyes, looking to the grub that was trying to get his attention.

“Mhn… what?” he yawned, picking up the grub by its midsection and holding it infront of his face. His eyes focused on the grub, now realizing that it was Limuli, the teal grub. She squeaked and he felt a faint rumbling.

“Hungry?”

She squeaked again, seemingly answering his question. 

“Alright alright” he hummed and picked up the still sleeping Anshu, placing him in his arm as he walked into the kitchen. Placing both on the table.

“Okay…. So Kanaya’s book said that grubs eat mostly meat and grains… what the fuck do i even have?” he mumbled, opening his freezer to find frozen beef. 

“Does it need to be cooked? I don’t think she specified…” he pulled out a frozen steak from his freezer and slipped it into water, allowing it to defrost a bit before he could cut it up.

Soft squeaking caught his attention, making him turn around and look at the two grubs squeaking at each other softly. Anshu had woken up it seemed, squeaking quietly to her sister. Karkat chuckled quietly and grabbed a few slices of bread, walking over and setting it down in front of the grubs.

“You can eat bread right? Yeah, it should be okay for you to eat bread”

He watched Anshu crawl forward and sniff the bread, making a face and pushing it off of the table.

“Hey!” Karkat scolded “Don’t waste food if you don’t like it”

Anshu squeaked angrily and slapped her claws against the table, causing her sister to flinch and back up, curling into a ball. Anshu continued with her small temper tantrum, head butting the fruit scattered around the table until Karkat picked her up.

“Hey now, it is not the time for tantrums” he sighed, walking back into the living quickly to grab the basket he brought them home in. Karkat set her down inside it and picked it up. Anshu started to wail again and tried to climb out, to no avail. Kanaya had designed the baskets to be grub climb proof, not allowing them to climb out of the baskets while they were inside. Karkat placed her on a chair in the kitchen, going over to pet the still curled up Limuli softly, making her uncurl and look around. Her eyes focusing on the screaming basket. He papped her head softly and checked on the meat, still frozen, but thawed enough for him to cut it up into chunks. He hummed and pulled out a cutting board, depositing the half frozen beef onto it. He glanced over at the tiny grub who was crooning on the table to see what he was doing. He smiled slightly and held out his hand to her, motioning for her climb up. Limuli looked at his hand then at him. Karkat smiled softly as she climbed onto his hand. He moved her up to his shoulder and set her there. Limuli looked down at the cutting board cautiously and chirred quietly, wondering what karkat was doing. Knife in hand, karkat began cutting it up slowly into small bite sized pieces. 

“Raw meat couldn't hurt could it?” he pondered, picking up a cube and placing it in front of Limuli’s mouth. “I mean, raw meat doesn't hurt me”. The small grub eyed the meat and tentatively leaned forward to bite it. She chewed it for a little bit before swallowing it and chirping happily. 

“I'll take that as a yes then” he chuckled and pulled down two plates to place the cubed beef onto.

“Some grain and vegetables would probably do you good, hmm?” the tiny grub on his shoulder squeaked and slapped her claws against her shoulder.

“Good girl” he chuckled and set the plates down on the counter, placing her next to one of them. He looked over at the now quiet basket and walked over.

“Are you going to behave now?” he asked quietly, peering down into the basket, looking at the curled up Anshu. She slowly uncurled and looked at her progenitor and squeaked quietly up at him. Karkat felt a twinge of guilt in his chest and picked her up, kissing her forehead before setting her down in front of the unoccupied plate. He thought for a couple seconds and pulled out some lusus flakes, a blandish cereal that Dave had called raisin bran, without the raisins. Whatever that meant. He dumped a bit out on each of the grubs plates and then put it away. They could eat on their own he assumed and searched his own fridge for something to eat. Eventually he just pulled out a leftover salad.

He sat down in front of the two grubs, watching them eat, maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

And then a few hours passed as karkat set the two girls in the living room, barricaded by pillows and he wrote on his laptop. He didn't look at them for a long while, getting sidetracked by staring at his work. When he began to get a writer's block, he decided it was time to stop and looked over at the two grubs.

Who weren't there.

“Fuck!”

He shoved his laptop onto the couch quickly and bolted up, looking around for any glimpse of the two grubs.

“Anshu!? Limuli!?” he called out, tearing through the barricade of pillows, not finding them there at all. He looked around more and bit his lip, scooting forward and looking under the couch. Only finding a blanket and dust bunnies.

“Fuuccckkkk” 

He pushed away and looked around the living room, not seeing any place where a grub would hide. He pushed up and rushed into the kitchen, tearing through it to find his grub. But they weren't there either. His panic rose as he kept looking, all through out his hive. Though he didn't think grubs could climb stairs, he couldn't take the chance and he bolted up the stairs, to the level with only his bedroom, a bathroom, a small library and a guest room. They weren't in the library, or the guest room. He stepped into the bathroom and bit his lip, looking through the cabinet under the sink, and inside the shower, where they weren't either.

Dread rising in his chest, he went into his room and called out softly. “Anshu? Limuli?”

He searched his was through his laundry basket and through his bed. But the two grubs were nowhere to be found. He glanced at his closet, noticing that it was slightly ajar, the girls could have squirmed their way in there. He opened it completely and heard a quiet squeak. He knelt down quickly and looked in the corner he heard it and sighed a bit. There they were, anshu was chewing on one of his old shirts while Limuli was curled in the corner. 

Karkat reached in and pulled the two of them out, Anshu protesting loudly and dragging his shirt with her.

“Jegus fuck you guys…” he mumbled as he tugged his shirt out of Anshu’s mouth. She growled and tried to keep hold, but ended up tearing a giant hole in it.

“At least it was old” he frowned, and tossed it aside, Karkat would let her have it later, after he washed it. Limuli was curled up in his arm, Karkat couldn't see her face but something told him that something was wrong. She was shaking, barely felt by the much larger troll. He frowned and sat down on his bed, placing Anshu on one of his lesser pillows. He set limuli in his lap and pet her softly, coaxing her out of the small ball she had curled into. She uncurled only barely and karkat saw her face. She looked absolutely miserable, tears in her eyes and hiccuping miserably.

“Oh no shhh” Karkat picked her up quickly and held her to his chest. Petting her back comforting. “Shhhhh~” he bit his lip and kept petting her, really unsure of what had happened to her. The tiny grub clung to his shirt and burped quietly. 

“Fuckfuckfuckfuck what happened?” he said quickly, worry filling his voice. He looked around for his phone and pulled it off of the charger next to his bed. Opening up Kanaya’s number and calling her quickly.

“Come on come on come onnnnnn” he mumbled impatiently, he didn’t want to seem incompetent but he didn’t have any idea of what was going on and frankly, it scared him.

“Hello, this is Kanaya Maryam-”

“Oh thank gog kanaya-!”

“I’m not available right now but if you leave me a message, i’ll get back to you as soon as i can”

“FUCK”

He hung up and tossed his phone on the bed, narrowly missing the pillow anshu was now chewing on.

Limuli burped again and threw up all over his chest, coughing a lot. Karkat made a sound of disgust and set her down on his bed. Pulling his sweater off and tossing it aside. Limuli squeaked a bit and coughed, she shuddered and looked up at her lusus. Karkat scooped the two grubs up and walked to the bathroom, setting them down on the sink counter. He pulled out a couple towels and set Anshu down on them, he pulled out a wash clothe and dampened it. Picking up limuli and gently washing her off. Wiping the remnants of sick off of her.

“I might as well give both of you a bath, it makes sense to anyway.” 

When he finished washing off the little teal, he set her down on the counter and shoved the stopper inside the drain, filling the sink a bit.

He hummed and placed the grubs in the water. Anshu squealed and splashed in the water, spraying Limuli in the face. The teal grub teared up and whined, trying to climb out of the sink to avail, she began to wail as she wanted out of the water. Karkat sighed and scooped her out, wrapping her in a soft towel. She curled up inside it as karkat dried her off. Placing her on the stack of towels. 

Anshu completely ignored the crying grub as she splashed and rolled around in the water, squeaking happily. She only whined a bit when she lifted out as karkat rubbed a bit of soap on her and wiped that off. She squeaked and squirmed as her lusus dried her off, wrapping her to look like a burrito in the towel. Karkat picked up the two girls and carried them back to his room, placing them on the bed and removing the towels, replacing them with blankets. 

Limuli actually looked better now, curled up next to her sister and purring quietly. Her eyes were closed as her thorax rose and fell slowly. Karkat watched as anshu gave up on being active and flopped down next to the other, chuckled as he watched the two of them fall asleep.

“Jeez….” he chuckled, running fingers through his hair “you two are such a handful”

He crawled up onto his bed and pulled out his phone from underneath the pillow it slid under when he threw it earlier. Karkat pulled the blanket with the grubs up closer to his chest and kept it beside him as he scrolled through his phone. Eventually deciding that he would bug Eridan because why not.

 

-[caligulasAquarium] is idle chum-

-[carcinoGeneticist]  has started pestering  [caligulasAquarium]  at 18:00-

[CG]: HEY ERIDAN

- [caligulasAquarium] is no longer idle chum-

[CA]: Hey kar

[CA]: wwhats up?

[CG]: FINALLY GETTING SOME FUCKING REST AFTER DEALING WITH THE GIANT HANDFUL THAT IS GRUBS

[CG]: LIKE SERIOUSLY, I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT TAKING CARE OF GRUBS WOULD BE *THIS* HARD

[CA]: you think it's hard?

[CA]: it's only the first day

[CA]: to me, id say its been the easiest

[CG]: WHAT THE FUCK DUDE

[CG]: IVE HAD BOTH OF THESE GRUBS BURST OUT CRYING FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER

[CG] AND THEN ONE OF THEM THREW UP ON ME

[CA]: wwhy’d it throw up?

[CG]: I DON'T KNOW, BUT AFTER SHE DID, IT LOOKED LIKE SHE FELT BETTER SO IDK

[CA]: you didn't feed her lusus flakes right?

[CA]: you do knoww that grubs can't properly digest them, right?

[CG]: HOW THE FUCK WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?

[CG]: AND ANSHU DIDN'T REACT TO THEM AT ALL

[CA]: is she one of the troll human mixes?

[CG]: YEAH WHY?

[CA]: the hybrids have a different digestive system from us and can digest foods that human infants can

[CA]: or atleast thats what kanaya told me

[CG]: JEGUS CHRIST, COULDN'T SHE OF PUT THIS IN HER FUCKING BOOKLET

[CA]: there aren't many hybrids at all

[CA]: only 3 i think

[CA]: so i don't think it wwouldve made sense to put it in unless there wwere more

[CG]: I WOULD’VE LIKED TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION BUT OKAY

[CA]: sorry kar

[CG]: IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT

[CG] TAKING CARE OF THESE GRUBS IS STILL FUCKING HARD THOUGH

[CA]: I can help

 

Karkat stared at his phone screen as his hand drifted down to pet at his grubs absent mindedly. Eridan offering his help confused him a bit, but he really could take all the help he could get. He smiled at the small rumbles under his hand before pulling it back up to type out his response.

 

[CG]: SERIOUSLY?

[CG]: THAT WOULD ACTUALLY BE A REALLY GREAT HELP

[CA]: yeah no problem

[CA]: wwhen do you wwant me over?

[CG]: I WOULD SAY RIGHT NOW

[CG]: BUT I'M NOT THAT MUCH OF A DICK SO CAN YOU COME OVER TOMORROW MORNING?

[CA]: yeah, our grubs can play together while i help you review the booklet

[CG]: COOL COOL

[CG]: THANKS ERIDAN

[CA]: you're wwelcome Kar

-[carcinoGeneticist]  has stopped pestering  [caligulasAquarium]  at 18:36-

 

Karkat plugged his phone back in and turned to curl up around his grubs protectively, he couldn't stop thinking how Eridan was going to come over tomorrow. He seemed really knowledgeable about grubs which confused karkat a bit, he would just ask him about it tomorrow. No problem. He closed his eyes and sighed quietly, he would just deal with it all in the morning. But now, he was tired and sleep would do him good.

Tomorrow he would learn how to take care of these fucking grubs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had a fucking beta for this dood


	3. You Can’t Raise a Grub by a Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan comes over with his grubs and tells Karkat he cant raise a grub by a book.

Karkat woke up the next morning and found that the grubs had not moved from their spot last night, still curled up next to each other on the pillow. He sighed out a quiet ‘thank you’ and sat up, stretching loosely. 

“Hnmm…..”

Karkat thought over what happened last night and remembered that Eridan was coming over to help him today, and meeting him shirtless would indeed be a little weird. So he slid out of his bed and pulled on a shirt, not really giving a shit that he was still wearing the jeans from the previous day. Karkat yawned and stretched again, just listening to the soft breathing coming from the sleeping grubs. He smiled and scooped them up despite the small protests from grubs. Karkat carried them downstairs and thumbed over Limuli’s cheek, sighing quietly at the cute grubs. He kind of wondered why only Lusi were the ones to raise grubs, he knew that trolls used to be really aggressive, the non-family type of people, but grubs were cute and they weren't  _ that _ hard to raise. He set the two girls onto the couch and went into the kitchen making himself a bowl of lusus flakes, making sure to clean up afterwards so the grubs couldn't get into it. He sighed and ate on the couch, the quiet was interesting to say the least. Its one of the reasons why he didn't stay home a lot, but he couldn't leave now. Anshu and Limuli couldn't be left alone in his hive. 

A small cheap pulled him out of his thoughts and looked down at the small grub who had just woken up. Anshu chirped sleepily up at him and head butted his thigh.

“Hmn…?” 

She squeaked quietly and crawled up Karkats leg, waving a tiny claw up at his food.

“Grubs aren't allowed to eat lusus flakes” he said sternly and set his bowl aside out of her reach. He scooped her up and slowly stood, a yawn escaping his mouth as she squeaked softly at him.

“C’mon, let's go get you some food” he mumbled and strode into the kitchen, setting her down on the counter. He needed to make some and freeze it for later, it would get tedious making food for the grubs everyday. Karkat was about to pulls out more meat when he thought. He shoved whatever meat he had grabbed back into the freezer and picked up an apple from the small fruit basket.

“I don't think there's a problem with grubs eating this” he sighed and cut it up into smaller slices for her, then placed them in front of the sleepy grub. “You want?” he hummed quietly, watching her softly. Anshu looked at the slices and cocked her head, crawling over to take a tentative bite. Karkat watched, ready to pull the plate away in case the small grub had another tantrum. Anshu smiled widely and ate more of the fruit, crawling onto the plate to get closer at it.

Karkat chuckled and heard a rapid pounding at his door.

“Just a second!” he called and picked up the plate bound grub, making his way back into the living room and setting the plate and Anshu, next to Limuli, happy squeaks coming from the grubs. There was another knock at the door, pretty loud too.

“Just a fucking minute!” he growled “Jegus Christ” he walked over to the door quickly and unlocked it. Pulling the door open to yell at the insistent guest.

“What the fuck-” Karkat looked up and noticed it was Eridan, holding both of his grubs in his arm. “Oh, hey Eridan” he sighed and stepped aside to let him in, looking at the grubs carefully. Eridan smiled and stepped in, his two grubs trilling lightly as they smelled the other grubs in the hive.

“Anshu and Limuli are on the couch right now” Karkat hummed, shutting the door behind the seadweller. “You can put your grubs with them i guess?”

Eridan looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “You just leave them on the couch?” He hadn't even stepped into his hive and he was questioning his judgement as a lusi, this was off to a great start wasn't it.

“Yeah? Is that a problem?” Karkat said, a soft edge to his voice.

“Somewhat” Eridan said, walking over to Karkat’s two grubs and setting his own down next to them, arranging the grubs so life wouldn't be difficult. “Im guessing you've lost them more than once?”

“...Maybe”

Eridan shook his head and pressed the bridge of his nose with a defeated sigh, “Where’s your alchemizer”

“In the basement. Why?” Karkat was thoroughly confused at this point, unsure as to why the sea dweller would need his alchemizer. He hadn't even been over two minutes, he couldn't be fucking up that badly. right?Karkat locked the door and walked forward to lean haphazardly against the couch.

“Grub gates, we’re going to make you some grub gates and pens” Eridan sighed, pushing his glasses up as he looked at the other.

“Oookay?” 

Eridan lifted all of the grubs up for a second and flipped the couch cushion up, placing the grubs down into the now hole, he made sure to flip up the rest of the cushions so the grubs had no chance of escaping. Eridan paused and looked at the Karkats grubs, along with the now severely chewed up apple bits, a small smile formed on his lips. He shook his head and walked over to Karkat.

“Down here?” he asked

“Yeah”

Karkat watched in curiosity and raised an eyebrow, How did eridan know so much about grubs, such information was illegal for trolls other than jades to acquire, he then shrugged and opened the sturdy door to his basement, holding it open for Eridan to walk down. They weren't on alternia anymore, he had to remember that. Karkat flipped the switch at the top of the stairs, illuminating the steep stairs to his basement. He was partially glad that the door that lead down there was practically immovable, that way if the grubs DID get out, there wasn't a chance of them falling down the stairs, he hummed and looked back at Eridan who was smiling lightly. 

The tips of Karkat's ears flushed and he looked away, flipping the switch on the wall. The lights flickered a bit and turned on, illuminating the small room that held Karkats alchemizer. 

Eridan looked around somewhat and stuck his tongue out at the bland room. He shook his head and dropped a cheat sheet of codes out from his sylladex, looking at the small sheet of paper in his hands, he stepped over to the keyboard and typed in

“ **#GATE22”** and a few seconds later a set of miniature fences popped out and Karkat looked at the small walls that were curved at the bottom and picked them up off the alchemizer. 

“These are..?”

“Basically grub corrals” Eridan hummed, starting to type in another code. This one being “ **#b1e1d1** ”, and made sure that two came out. Karkat was inspecting the first set of items that had come out of the alchemizer, they were interesting contraptions, barely knee high fences that he and any other adult troll could step over, or trip over and fall down a flight of stairs, depending on the capability of walking. 

“What are those for?”

“They make it so grubs can't get into certain places. But you can step over them”

“Oh”

“Yeah”

Karkat shifted on his feet and thought about the grubs, wondering if they were okay with being alone up there.

“Hey Eridan”

“Yeah Kar?”

“I'm going to check on the grubs and stay upstairs”

“Alright, i'll message you when im done”

“Kay”

Karkat sighed and turned tail, walking up the stairs slowly. He sighed and made sure to close the basement door behind him. He felt really stupid in a sense, seeing as he didn't know about the grub tech to keep them safe. His multiple readings of the booklet apparently didn't mean much for actually raising grubs. Apparently you can't raise a grub by a book. He slinked over to the couch and peered into the small prison the grubs were in. 

It seemed that the grubs had made themselves well acquainted with each other. There was a small section of couch that was torn up by one of Erida’ns grubs, one with torpedo horns. It looks as though it was an escape attempt, one failed due to the sleepiness of grubs. All of them were asleep now, a small pile of grubs just curled together as a loud purring sound just poured from the mass. Karkat chuckled and got onto his knees, watching them intently. He couldn't really see the color of their hides in the current lighting but oh well. Anshu and Limuli were curled up next to Eridan’s smaller grub, who was even smaller than his own grubs. She had horns similar to Eridan’s, except one curled under. That was likely to get caught on things, ‘I wonder if Eridan has any plans to keep her from getting snagged on things’ he thought and chuckled lightly as he rubbed the small grubs back. It purred and rolled over a bit, waving a lazy claw at his finger. That was adorable to be honest. Then there was the little monster who gave up on trying to destroy the couch to escape. The first thing he noticed was the obvious streak of red in the grubs hair, yet not a burgundy.  _ Bright Heresy Red.  _ Also fins?? What the hell.

 

-[carcinoGeneticist]  has started pestering  [caligulasAquarium]  at 18:00-

[CG]: HEY ERIDAN?

[CA]: Yeah Kar?

[CG]: WHAT ARE THE BLOOD COLORS OF YOUR GRUBS?

- [caligulasAquarium] is now idle chum-

[CG]: WHAT THE HELL DOUCHEFIN?

- [caligulasAquarium]  is no longer idle chum-

[CA]: sorry I had to take something out of the alchemizer 

[CA]: the one wwith the curly horn is Tychie

[CA]: She's apparently a mix of Vris and I

[CA]: She's adorable and I wish she wasn't Vris’s

[CA]: she's a purple blood

[CA]: The larger one is Altarf

[CA]: And he's wwell….

[CA]: a mutant.

[CA]: He's a mix of you and me

 

Karkat stared at his screen. That made sense. A mix… Of he and Eridan. That poor grub. His spawn.  _ His.  _

Karkat’s eyes opened wide as he actually processed what Eridan just said. There was  _ another _ mutant, the gene wasn't completely dormant.

There was no way this was happening. None. Nadda. No way. Another mutant…? It wasn't possible. Not in the least. It can't happen. Karkat looked at the mutant grub. Altarf. That's his name. He slowly scooped him out of the mix of grubs, pushing the girls back together afterward. Altarf slowly woke up and blinked up at Karkat, making a confused chirp as he was suddenly hugged tight, though not enough to hurt him.

Tears welled up in Karkats eyes as he held the grub. He didn't exactly know why he was crying but then again he did. He wasn't alone, there was a grub, just like him, who would be able to live without fear of culling because of his blood color.

“Oh you lucky bastard” he choked out and pressed curled around the grub. “But you poor fucking grub”

Altarf squeaked unhappily at being held, squirming in Karkats arms until he realized that escape without destruction was not possible. He bit Karkats arm and growled lightly. Even though he was a grub, he teeth were sharp and punctured through both the sleeve and Karkat's arm. 

Karkat winced and let go of the grub, unhooking him from his arm and putting him back down with the other grubs.

“Let's just hope you don't grow up to be like either of us…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY LOOK I ACTUALLY UPDATED THIS FIC, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS FOR NANOWRIMO.  
> Also Altarf is Lizardlicks and Sailorshanty's grubbie

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me of any spelling errors or grammatical errors you find, i didnt have time for this to get beta'd and whats going on in america currently delayed it as well.


End file.
